It’s the billion dollar question. What is the future of the 1,600 television broadcasters in the United States?
The Advanced Television Systems Committee, better known as ATSC, will hold a conference next week to examine just that question. Its theme is “Today, Tomorrow & Beyond” and it will be held at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, on Thursday, May 8.
The conference will examine emerging video standards designed to add flexibility to television, Internet compatibility, 4K Ultra HD program content and more robust signal transmission to the current broadcast standard.
The day before the May 8 conference, ATSC will hold the ATSC 3.0 Boot Camp, a new event that will focus exclusively on the work-in-process ATSC 3.0 standard.
ATSC 3.0 Boot Camp will include sessions on the architecture of the overhaul of the broadcast TV standard, including an overview of the physical layer, protocols and management layer and the applications and presentation layer. Specialist groups will report on progress made on common system elements, modulation, coding, waveform, service delivery, synchronization, personalization, interactivity, second-screen integration and various video and audio services.
At the next day’s main conference, Gordon Smith, president-CEO of the NAB, will present the keynote. Experts on the various panels will examine opportunities and challenges for TV broadcasters, offer the basics on new technologies that are shaping emerging TV standards, explain the benefits and market hurdles of new Ultra HD television sets and showcase how TV broadcasting should adapt to meet consumer demands.
Among the panels and speakers for the conference include “New Opportunities and New Challenges for Television Broadcasters: A Business Perspective,” moderated by TVNewscheck Editor Harry Jessell. Panelists include Shawn Makhijani of NBCU; Mark Fratrik of BIA-Kelsey and Jay Adrick of GatesAir.
A panel called “ATSC Technology: A Primer on What’s Coming Soon” will be moderated by industry analyst Gary Arlen. Panelists include Rich Chernock of Triveni Digital; Michael Dolan, a consultant representing Nielsen; and Jerry Whitaker of the ATSC.
Another panel, “Setting the Stage for ATSC: Tomorrow & Beyond,” will be moderated by Myra Moore of Digital Tech Consulting. Panelists will include Luc Tomasino of TabletTV, Anne Schelle of Pearl TV and Dave Siegler of Cox Media.
Dave Arland of Arland Communications, publicist for the ATSC, said the conference is for a wide range of broadcast professionals “who want to get up to date” on the latest technologies. “So far, we have about 130 participants registered for the conference,” Arland said.
Those interested in attending either the Boot Camp on ATSC 3.0 or the ATSC Broadcast TV Conference can visit here for registration information.
Attendees registered for the May 8 ATSC Broadcast TV Conference will be admitted free to May 7 “boot camp” seminar on ATSC 3.0, which carries a $75 registration fee for those not attending both meetings.
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